Visual Studio Tools for Applications 2017 stuck in an install loop

Question

Hello, I have encountered a strange issue on a newly built Windows Server 2019 server with SQL Server 2016 SP1 installed. When I go to install the latest SSMS package, it gets stuck on installing the Visual Studio Tools for Applications 2017 package. Drilling down into the logs, and running the redistributable of VSDT2017 by itself, I can confirm that it gets stuck at a point, and continuously loops through it. Here is the section of the log file that keeps looping:

[16D0:0E44][2024-02-09T14:58:20]i000: MUX: Reset Result> [16D0:0E44][2024-02-09T14:58:20]i000: MUX: Source confirmed> [26EC:2A94][2024-02-09T14:58:21]e000: Error 0x80070490: Failed to find expected public key in certificate chain.> [26EC:2A94][2024-02-09T14:58:21]e000: Error 0x80070490: Failed to verify expected payload against actual certificate chain.> [26EC:2A94][2024-02-09T14:58:21]e000: Error 0x80070490: Failed to verify signature of payload: cab9D11BAE11C8EDF380F5DC63624B6CC82> [26EC:2A94][2024-02-09T14:58:21]e310: Failed to verify payload: cab9D11BAE11C8EDF380F5DC63624B6CC82 at path: C:\ProgramData\Package Cache.unverified\cab9D11BAE11C8EDF380F5DC63624B6CC82, error: 0x80070490, delete: Yes> [26EC:2A94][2024-02-09T14:58:21]e000: Error 0x80070490: Failed to cache payload: cab9D11BAE11C8EDF380F5DC63624B6CC82> [16D0:0E44][2024-02-09T14:58:21]i000: MUX: Verify Failed. Retry acquiring, Retry Count: 1 of 3> [16D0:0E44][2024-02-09T14:58:21]i000: MUX: Set Result: Return Code=-2147023728 (0x80070490), Error Message=, Result Detail=, Vital=True, Package Action=Verify, Package Id=vsta_hostingcore_x86> [16D0:0E44][2024-02-09T14:58:21]e314: Failed to cache payload: cab9D11BAE11C8EDF380F5DC63624B6CC82 from working path: C:\Users#####\AppData\Local\Temp{f895a2f1-ae3f-4212-8af1-7fa1f8c212ea}\cab9D11BAE11C8EDF380F5DC63624B6CC82, error: 0x80070490.> [16D0:0E44][2024-02-09T14:58:21]e349: Application requested retry of payload: cab9D11BAE11C8EDF380F5DC63624B6CC82, encountered error: 0x80070490. Retrying...> [26EC:2A94][2024-02-09T14:58:21]i304: Verified existing payload: vsta_hostingcore_x86 at path: C:\ProgramData\Package Cache{9594C97E-6A20-38B3-81BB-2778C4780BE1}v15.0.27520\packages\vsta_hostingcore_x86\vsta_hostingcore_x86.msi.> [16D0:0E44][2024-02-09T14:58:21]i000: MUX: Reset Result

n.b. i have replaced my user account name in the above log with #### for security reasons. As you can see, the systems is supposed to attempt 3 retries before giving up, but it in fact does not, and goes through all the same steps between the "Reset Result" entries. I have left it running for a considerable length of time (enough for the log file to balloon to over 25Mb in size, before forcibly ending the process. Any suggestions on troubleshooting steps would be most welcome.

Answer 1

The error log indicates that the signature for one of the files is not verifiable and therefore it fails the request. In general you should redownload the installer and try again.

I'm assuming here that the cert chain is up to date. Meaning the certs that MS is using haven't expired and you haven't updated your server yet to get the new certs.

Do you have an existing SSMS installation on the machine? Sounds like you don't. Consider installing a previous version of SSMS and then letting it update to the latest and see if that works. In all cases where people have reported issues with the certs it is something specific to their network settings. But figuring out what can be hard.